Ranchi. President of India Draupadi Murmu has stressed on the need to increase the activities of secondary agriculture to increase the income of the farmers of the country and empower the agriculture sector. President Draupadi Murmu on Friday attended the function organized on the 100th anniversary of the ‘National Institute of Secondary Agriculture’ (NISA) located at Namkum, Ranchi as the chief guest. Addressing the function, she said that the central government has taken many big steps to improve and develop the agriculture sector and help the farmers. The government is continuously working towards the development of agro-based industries, expansion of organizations like FPO and PACS, work on the world’s largest storage planning, development of natural farming and strengthening the supply chain. The President said that to further empower the farmers, there is a need to promote secondary agriculture including beekeeping, poultry farming, agricultural tourism. In the 21st century, the three major challenges in the agriculture sector in our country are maintaining food nutrition and preservation, ensuring sustainable use of resources and taking steps to adapt to climate change. Secondary agriculture can prove to be very helpful in facing these challenges.
If farmers are encouraged to do activities like beekeeping, poultry farming, agricultural tourism along with primary farming, then they will not need to go out of the village to increase their income. Describing the 100-year journey of the National Institute of Secondary Agriculture in Ranchi as historic, the President said that this institute has done commendable work in lac farming, its production and processing in a scientific way. He had got a chance to visit this institute even while being the Governor of Jharkhand and he found that it has empowered the farmers by training them. 55 percent of the lac in the country is produced in Jharkhand and most of the farmers from tribal communities are associated with it. This institute has been helpful in improving their standard of living. He said that today there is a demand for high quality lac in the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry. He hopes that this institute will work in this direction. This will increase the income of farmers producing lac.
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The President urged the officials and scientists of the National Institute of Secondary Agriculture to work towards developing such technology, so that farmers can preserve and keep their vegetables fresh for a longer period of time. Referring to his relations with Jharkhand, the President said that coming to Jharkhand, the holy land of Dharti Aaba Bhagwan Birsa Munda, is like a pilgrimage for me. I get a lot of love from the people here. As a Governor, I have worked for public service here for many years. Let us tell you that many prominent people including Jharkhand Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Minister of State for Defense Sanjay Seth were present in this program.